Those are agreements for a specific amount of crude oil, delivered on a future date. The same contract can be bought and sold at different prices up until a lock-in date. The final cost of that crude will eventually account for a bit more than half of the price of a gallon of gas. The rest is refining, taxes, transport and profits.

At 10 a.m., when the trading floor opens, oil is at $69.94 a barrel. Suddenly the floor becomes a shopping center of chaos.

"You're fighting down, you're pushing. I've had shirts ripped, it's a physically demanding job," says Bolling. "This guy says this, that guy says that. … So it's a constant flow of information that you have to take in and digest and make your trading decision."

At 11:10 a.m., oil is at $69.90 a barrel and news of possible trouble with Iranian oil supplies sweeps across the floor.

"Things come out in the Middle East over the weekends," says Bolling. "And that really incites the whole market higher."

At 12:08 p.m., oil is at $70.50 a barrel and Bolling is downright bullish.

"We opened a little bit unchanged. Now 50, 55 cents higher — kinda what I was looking for. I'm probably looking for it to go a little further going into the weekend," says Bolling.

But instead there's a retreat — at 1:30 p.m., oil is back down to $70.05 a barrel. Blame fatigue or the effects of a heavy lunch.

"Very, very relevant is the last five minutes of the trading day," says Bolling. "I think that is going to set the tone for next week."

He's right. A rush at the close pushes oil back over pushes oil back over $70 a barrel. At 2:30 a barrel is at $70.19.

Overall, Bolling says the day went well.

"As planned, the gasoline market was strong -- it led the way," he said.

Does he have advice for the rest of us?

Yes, but it's not good.

"Unfortunately I think we're probably gonna be here for a while — at these levels — maybe even higher. ... I hate to be the guy who says get used to it — but get used to it."